Don't "Blow It Big", Rahman On Attacks On Indians In Australia

Fresh from his musical concert in Australia, Oscar winner A R Rahman on Monday cautioned against "blowing it big" the incidents of attacks on Indians there and said that the country was showing 'genuine' interest

Fresh from his musical concert in Australia, Oscar winner A R Rahman on Monday cautioned against "blowing it big" the incidents of attacks on Indians there and said that the country was showing 'genuine' interest in dealing with the issue. "Rather than aggravate things and make them nasty, (it is better to) fix it. Many Australian ministers showed genuine interest in clearing (alleged racial motives behind attacks) and therefore they initiated (efforts for the concert)," Rahman told reporters here.

While promoting 'Couples Retreat', a Hollywood movie in which he has scored music, Rahman said he had interacted with members of both Indian and Australian communities during his recent visit there and "there are 1000 different reasons" (behind the attacks).

"It is better not to blow it big," he said but added that it was not good losing people, referring to the killing of Nitin Garg, an Indian student, in Melbourne.

Rahman said his concert was "great" and all had a "good feeling."

He was in Australia as a guest of the New South Wales state government and Sydney Festival, its largest annual cultural event. "I want to.... spread the message of togetherness and peace, build a bridge for people who are trying to break it," Rahman had said at Melbourne before the concert.

To a question on Congress using his composition 'Jai Ho' from the Oscar winning 'Slumdog Millionaire', during the Lok Sabha elections last year, Rahman said "It did not belong to them alone," but to everyone.

On 'Couples Retreat,' Rahman said there was less pressure working for a comedy and he really enjoyed working as the producers gave him the "freedom of budget for the orchestra."

He recalled that he had to write a Tamil song for the Hollywood movie all by himself as he couldn't find a lyricist in the US. PTI